


You smiled at me first

by thefirecrest



Series: Hughie gets fucked [3]
Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Multi, No Beta, Obsessive Behavior, Possessive Behavior, bi hughie gives me life, i will claw this ship from the recesses of nonexistence even if it kills me!, liberal interpretation of ages, we post like illiterates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 17:00:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20474459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefirecrest/pseuds/thefirecrest
Summary: John escapes from the laboratory for an afternoon and makes a friend. Years later, Homelander has an unexpected meeting at Believe Expo.Or the one in which Homelander and Hughie are childhood friends and Homelander is his, typical, possessive bastard self.[Chinese Translation now up: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20832623/chapters/49522160A very special thank you to RuanGuoGuo for taking the time to make it!! Thank you!!]





	1. John's Day Out

**Author's Note:**

> I get that Homelander should be like more than a decade older than Hughie in canon, but I played with the ages a bit so that Homelander is no more than like 6 years older than Hughie. It just wouldn't work otherwise.

John couldn’t believe it. He was out. He didn’t think he was going to pull off this plan but here he was, nearly ten miles out from the laboratory complex now. He could still vaguely hear the chaos of blaring alarms and shouting people back in that direction. A year ago he couldn’t even hear things 5 miles away. It meant his powers were improving. John wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On one hand it made Vogelbaum happy (or as happy as the stoic scientist could be), but on the other it meant even more trails and testing.

None of that really mattered at the moment. Now, John was flying free as a bird towards who knows where. It would probably take a few hours before they catch up to him. He had until then to do whatever he wanted before he was inevitably locked up again.

For a while he just flew. He didn’t normally enjoy flying. He didn’t dislike it either. But flying was usually reserved for the Big Room during flight testing. Not exactly the most exciting thing in the world doing trails over and over. Yet up here in the open sky, with the world as his oyster, flying seemed… Pleasant. Comforting even. The feelings of the wind in his hair. The coolness of the breeze. All of it was.... Contenting.

John clutched his blanket tight between his fingers. He’s not really sure why he brought it with him. Vogelbaum had told him that it was ridiculous that he was still so dependent on the piece of fabric. Told him that kind of reliance on such a silly concept was going to be his downfall one day. John didn’t really know what to make of that. Vogelbaum liked to psychoanalyze everything. Maybe he  _ was _ getting a bit too old to be lugging the old thing around but… It made him feel good to have it so why shouldn’t he?

It’s not like any one of those weak cockroaches could stop him from having it anyway.

Several minutes later he came to a halt and just hovered in the sky for a bit, looking ahead in awe at the view before him. It was… So big.

What John immediately recognized as New York city stretched before his vision. Buildings of all sizes stretched into the sky, as high as he flew. Manhattan island sat cozily on the glittering water as the midday sun struck it’s surface and it reflected the light back in refractions. John knew that this was to be his home one day. Vought had plans to set up his debut in this very city and to set up their main headquarters here too. He just never knew how… Beautiful it all was.

He flew closer into the city and began flying between the buildings, in awe of his own reflection in the glass. A young fifteen year old boy stared back out at him, dressed in plain jeans and a steril white T-shirt. Bags of exhaustion drooped from his face but his eyes were bright with amazement.

He used his x-ray vision and peered into the building itself. He watched in amusement as several business men and women, dressed in funny monochromatic suits, stared out at him from their desks and cubicles. Many of them gasped in shock. A few looked unimpressed and tired. John chuckled at the strange sights.

Distracted as he was by the funny business people, John failed to notice a flock of pigeons in his direct path.

As he was flying faster than them John ended up plowing through the flock causing the group of birds to squawk and scatter in a chaotic burst of feathers. John let out a shout of surprise himself, arms flaily to get the creatures out of his face. Several went flying off in different directions when his kicks and fists collided with them. It took him a minute to notice that he had lost his blanket in the chaos.

Once the birds had scattered off John realized his mistake and let out an angry howl. He began to search frantically around for his blanket. A scream of excitement caught his attention. He looked down and saw a small playground nestled amongst the tall buildings. The little girl who had let out the cry of joy was playing around with a blue blanket. His blanket. John immediately flew down.

He landed with a large cloud of dust. Several children screamed and scattered. The little girl began to cry. He approached her furiously and saw, with vindictive glee, that she fell back onto her hineside in panic. She cried even harder while still clutching at his blanket.

“Give it back!” He demanded holding his hand out. The girl wailed and didn’t seem to comprehend him. This made John angry. “Give it back now! It’s mine!”

There were now tears and snot leaking from her face, getting dangerously close to contaminating his blanket. John saw red. Literally. His eyes grew warm from his heat vision as he stalked closer to the crying girl. If she wasn’t going to give it back he would-

“Hey now, stop that. She doesn’t understand what your saying!”

John turned his red glare to the newcomer. A boy this time. Younger than John but older than the girl.

The boy held his hands up, “Cassie is only four. She doesn’t really speak that much. You just gotta be patient with her.” And without waiting for John’s reply the boy knelt down next to the girl and shushed at her, speaking in a gentle voice. “Cassie. You should give that back. It isn’t yours. It isn’t nice to take things that aren’t yours.”

The girl was still crying and John was convinced that nothing was going to change. But the boy waved him off and continued his gentle talk with “Cassie”. To John’s surprise, after a little bit the girl did begin to calm down. Her cries turned to sniffles. And eventually that turned into a wet giggle as the boy told her some joke John didn’t really understand. She handed the boy his blanket and then ran off, all smiles once more.

John watched in awe as the boy stood back up, brushing dust off his pants and then turning back to John, holding out the blanket. “Here,” the boy said smiling. “This means a lot to you, right?”

John didn’t answer, but he took the blanket back and let his heat vision die out.

“Your eyes turned red. That was really cool! Are you like a superhero or something?”

He looked up in surprise and saw that the boy was still watching him. But not watching him like the scientists and guards did back at the laboratory. There was no… Ulterior motive there. The boy wasn’t staring at him like he was some sort of puzzle, some sort of experiment, some sort of… Freak. He was just looking at him with something genuine that John couldn’t place.

“My name is Hughie,” the boy introduced holding out a hand. “And what’s your name?”

John looked down at the hand apprehensively. The boy was probably dirty. He did just wipe dirt off with his hands… But then again… He had also got John back his blanket.

“John,” he said quietly, hesitantly grabbing Hughie's hand. Huhgie proceeded to give his hand a firm shake, the smile on his face growing wide.

“Hi, John! It’s nice to meet you!” Hughie said cheerfully. “You’re new around here aren’t you?” When John didn’t answer, he continued. “That’s fine. I can tell. Do you want to come get ice cream with me? My dad gave me some snack money and I know the  _ best  _ ice cream place in the city.”

John looked around unsure. He didn’t know anything about this boy.

But he also didn’t know anything about this city. And wasn’t that why he was here in the first place? To explore things he would never get to do back at the laboratory? In a few hours Vought will have found him and he’ll back locked back up for who knows how long. He could go flying around some more but…

No one has ever looked at him like Hughie is looking at him now. So open and innocent. So free of judgement.

John cracked a small and unsure smile, but a smile all the same.

“Sure.”

~*~

John had ice cream once before in his life. For his tenth birthday if he remembered. But it tasted nothing like the ice cream Hughie bought them. Initially the boy had bought them each individual cones, but once hearing that John had only ever eaten ice cream once the other boy was quick to shove his own cone into John’s hand, he insisted. John ordered cotton candy because he had never had cotton candy before and he liked the colors. Huhgie had ordered strawberry cheesecake. They both tasted incredible. The cotton candy was sweeter than anything John had tasted before in his life and the actual chunks of cheesecake in Hughie’s order was the most delicious thing in the world.

Hughie laughed at his expression when John took his first bite and at first it made him angry. He wanted to laser Hughie down for laughing at him. But after a moment he came to the realization that the boy wasn’t laughing  _ at him _ , but rather with him. Hughie was just enjoying his company like…

Like a friend.

John decided then that he would give Hughie the benefit of the doubt from then on.

They spent the entire afternoon together. Hughie informed him that it was summer and school was out but his mom and dad were busy at work. But that was just fine with John. He had never had so much fun in his life before.

Hughie took him to a lot of places. It might’ve looked strange, a small kid and a teenager running around sightseeing. For someone as young as Hughie, he was surprisingly adept at traversing the city. Hughie took him on the subway and John was shocked that he knew exactly where to get off and what train to take. He didn’t think he could figure it out on his own.

It might’ve been faster to fly but it was nice to just take the subway like everyone else. Plus, aside from his heat vision Hughie had yet to figure out that he had powers. John was somewhat ashamed to admit he was afraid how Hughie might treat him if he knew. He could pass off glowing eyes, but flying? He’d rather just take the subway. Besides, it was a novel experience even if it was crowded and slow.

They stopped by central park for a bit and John got to pet his first dog. He wasn’t sure what was so appealing about a slobbering, shitting, shedding creature, but he supposed that its excitement at seeing him was cool. Also, Hughie loved dogs and seeing him laugh and enjoy himself was enjoyable as well.

They saw the Statue of Liberty. They went up the empire state building (until a security guard stopped them somewhere on the eightieth floor for not having tickets and chased them out. It was only Hughie’s laughter that kept John from lasering the shit out of the man). Hughie treated him to some authentic New York pizza. John saw an interesting looking bracelet from a gift shop and Hughie bought it for him.

When asked where the other boy was getting all this money, Hughie shrugged and said that he always saved his allowance for a special occasion. And that this was a special occasion.

John didn’t know how to word how much hearing that affected him.

He had never met anyone like Hughie before.

Hours later they were back at the park as the sun was setting. Hughie informed him that he had to be getting home.

“Will you come back to the park?” Hughie asked him.

“Do you want me to?” John said in surprise.

“Of course!” The other boy exclaimed, “You’re my friend now! You’re even wearing my friendship bracelet!”

John cracked a smile, bigger than before, “Friendship bracelet? Isn’t that like a girly thing?”

Hughie pouted. “It’s a friendship thing! And we’re friends! Right, John…?”

John blinked, smile falling from his face. Hughie suddenly sounded unsure and hesitant. All day the boy had taken the lead and been so sure of himself that the sudden change was surprising. Did his friendship really mean that much to the younger boy?

“Yes…” John began hesitantly, then grew more confident as he went on. “We  _ are  _ friends.” He fingered the friendship bracelet, a small smile spreading across his face. “I-”

But he didn’t get to finish his sentence. He watched in horror as a dart suddenly struck Hughie’s neck. The boy’s eyes widened a second then went woozy as he passed out. John let out a shout and rushed forward, catching Hughie before his tiny body hit the ground. And then he was surrounded by private SWAT operatives.

“Time to go home, John.”

He glared as Vogelbaum stepped out of a military grade convoy vehicle and approached him.

“You didn’t have to tranq him!” He shouted angrily.

Vogelbaum sighed in exasperation. “He’s seen you. I should actually have him killed if I’m being perfectly honest-”

“Don’t!”

“Don’t?” The scientist rose an eyebrow. “John. I’m surprised. Could you be attached to this civilian boy?”

John clenched his jaw in frustration, “It- It’s not like that. I just- I’ll come back. Just please don’t kill him. He doesn’t know about my powers.”

Vogelbaum hummed in consideration.

“Very well John. I’ll allow the boy to live,” he said. “But in return, you are not to pull another stunt like this. Do so again and there  _ will _ be consequences. Starting with the civillian.”

John glanced down at Hughie’s unconscious face and felt something in him harden. He wanted so badly to just… Let out all his anger. Kill every last one of these insignificant fuckers. Blast them all away with his heat vision- But that wasn’t going to happen. Not if he wanted to make sure Hughie was okay. Not if he didn’t want to incur the wrath of Vaught. Vogelbaum was only one person in a giant system.

It’s not like John will ever be free even if he does kill the man here and now.

He gently lays Hughie back down onto the ground and stands, turning to face Vogelbaum. In a cold voice he answers.

“Fine.”


	2. Homelander's Day Out

Homelander stepped into the tent, annoyed at the entire situation. He was itching to fly off and find Madelyn. Demand why she was making him do this bullshit. Keeping up images was his forte but these religious fucks were seriously making him cranky. He’d rather be back at HQ nestling his face between Madelyn’s bre-

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a movement in the corner of his eye. Homelander wasn’t exactly sure why, as the tent is packed with hypocritical rich fucks. Ezekiel, wearing his standard egregious white, was talking quietly with a rich older couple. Homelander could hear every bullshit word they were saying, but he just chose not to listen. If he had to spend time around these religious fucks all the time, he thought he would go crazy.

No. What caught his sight was a lone person, standing awkwardly to the side holding a flute of champagne. Homelander noted that the man’s heart rate was rather high. He recalled briefly that Starlight had requested that one of her friends be let into this exclusive event. Chuckling to himself, he made his way over to the poor guy. If he’s going to be stuck here for an entire afternoon, he might as well make the most of it. Messing with a gold digging little shit would do the job just fine.

“Excuse me-” He began, tapping on the guy’s shoulder. The man turned around and Homelander felt his breath catch in his throat.

Hughie, because it was unmistakably Hughie, blinked in surprise. Homelander barely noted that Hughie’s pulse spiked at the sight of him, distracted as he was taking in the features, now all grown up, of his childhood friend.

“H-homelander!” Hughie stuttered out in shock. “I-I-”

Homelander was immediately disappointed when he realized that Hughie didn’t recognize him. Well… He recognized him, but only by his superhero persona and not- Though, that wasn’t really fair either. Homelander never really thought about himself as “John” anymore either. But something about Hughie not recognizing him as John… Hurt.

It hurt a lot.

“Hughie,” he greeted.

Hughie’s eyes darted back and forth nervously. “Y-you… You know my name?”

Homelander sighed and rolled his eyes. “How could I not know your name, Hughie? You really don’t remember me? I’m hurt.” His tone of voice was playful but there was truth ringing behind those words.

“Oh, um. Have… Have we met before?” Hughie asked in confusion. He bit his bottom lip. Homelander noted with interest that they looked full and kissable.

He mentally laughed to himself, somewhat exasperated. Of course he would be attracted to the one relic from his childhood. Homelander knew he had a… Oedipus kink for Madelyn. He wasn’t a fucking idiot. But he didn’t think seeing Hughie after all these decades would trigger such a reaction within him. Of fucking course he would be attracted to his childhood friend.

Damn Hughie looked cute, especially when he looked nervous. He had been such a cute kid and now, Homelander observed appreciatively, he was all legs.

“We have,” Homelander said. He reached up to remove one of his gloves, flexing his fingers as he took it off. Hughie watched with confused interest. “Don’t you recognize this?” He pulled down his sleeve and there, wrapped around his pale wrist, was a worn but clearly well cared for bracelet.

Hughie examined the accessory with confusion for a few seconds and then suddenly realization bloomed in those baby blues. He glanced back up at Homelander’s face in shock.

“John…?”

Homelander couldn’t help the grin that spread wide across his face. “The one and only… Friend.”

“B-but- but-!” Hughie stuttered, “You- I thought… I woke up. I- I thought I might’ve dreamt you up!”

There was a beat of silence. And then Homelander burst out laughing. Around them, people glanced over at the commotion but he ignored all of them. Right now, he only had eyes for Hughie.

“You didn’t meet me back at the park!”

Homelander’s laughter died down and his expression grew somber. “I couldn’t come back. There were… Obligations I couldn’t get out of.” He cracked a wry grin, “Life of a superhero and all. Always busy.”

“I-” Hughie cut himself off. “I guess I hadn’t thought about that. I just… I guess I just assumed I dreamt that entire afternoon. I can’t believe this is actually happening to be honest.”

To Homelander’s pleasure he noticed that Hughie’s pulse was starting to slow down to a more relaxed tempo. The sound of it was mesmerizing. Hughie was actually  _ here,  _ alive. After all these years. Homelander had tried, half heartedly, to look for the boy once he was given freedom of movement by Vought. He always fantasized about what their reunion would be like, each more wild and different from the last. He kept Hughie’s friendship bracelet safe all these years. It was one of his few prized possessions. Yet he could’ve never imagined that this would be the reunion he’d always dreamed of.

“So why are you here, Hughie?”

Hughie made a funny noise with his throat and coughed nervously. His heartbeat spiked, which struck Homelander as somewhat peculiar.

“I just- I guess I…” Hughie stuttered out. “Well, haha, the thing is I’m not  _ particularly  _ religious? Um… I just thought it would be interesting-”

“Hughie, relax,” Homelander said chuckling. “I’m not here to interrogate you. I’m just… I’m just really happy to see you, actually.”

Hughie’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “You are? I mean- Well. You’re  _ Homelander. _ ” And for some reason hearing Hughie say his official name made Homelander scowl. “We only met that one time when I was like nine! And you remembered me after all these years? I just-”

“Please, Hughie. Call me John. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

The familiar and nostalgic question hung between them warmly. It took a few seconds but then Hughie was finally smiling. He let out a small laugh. It was sweet and sounded like music to Homelander’s ears.

“Yes, John,” Hughie chuckled. “Yeah. We’re friends.” He reached up to brush his hair back. Homelander watched as the cuff of his sleeve fell down his arm revealing a red mark on Hughie’s wrist.

His hand shot forward without his consent and caught Hughie’s wrist gently. The other man’s eyes widened.

“You’re wrist,” Homelander said. “It’s hurt.”

To his utter shock a large red blush spread across Hughie’s face. It complemented his pale complexion nicely. He looked adorable flushed like that.

“Omigod…” Hughie muttered to himself. “Oh no, that’s- That’s just-” He chuckled nervously and pulled his wrist back to himself. Homelander reluctantly let go. “My uh-” And then he whispered, “My  _ boyfriend  _ and I um… We can get a little rough, but it’s all consensual.”

_ His boyfriend _ .

Homelander felt a familiar feeling of possessiveness rear its ugly head in their direction. Like whenever Maeve tried to date other men or when Madelyn paid attention to that stupid fucking baby instead of him. Hughie had a  _ boyfriend.  _ A boyfriend whom he was sexually active with and apparently whom Hughie liked to have rough sex with.

He couldn’t help the shock of both arousal and fury that shot through him. Hughie was  _ his.  _ He met Hughie first. Not whoever this fucker was.

“Is that so? Boyfriend, eh?” Homelander asked, expertly keeping that amicable smile on his face. “You do know we’re in kind… Heavily Christian territory here right?”

Hughie looked around in surprise, as if he had forgotten in their conversation where he was. That pleased the hero somehow. “Oh- Right. Haha, well I mean. I’m not gay or anything. I had a girlfriend…”

And suddenly Hughie’s tone took a dip as he trailed off. His lovely blue eyes grew distant as if he were looking past Homelander somewhere far away. That just wouldn’t do.

“Hughie? You okay?”

The man shook his head, apparently trying to shake off whatever funk he fell into. “Ah, yeah. It’s not important. I’m actually not sure why I even brought it up. Um... How are you doing, John?”

Trying to change the subject, Homelander observed. But he obliged anyway. He wanted to see Hughie smile again. For some reason, seeing the man smile made him feel like everything was going to work out and be okay. Which was a strange feeling for a god-like being to have but that was how it was.

“I’ve been good. I’m sure you’ve seen me on TV.” Hughie nodded. “Life has been busy. This superhero gig isn’t exactly a casual lifestyle. You know, between saving people and press and media stuff all the time.”

Hughie chuckled shyly.

For some reason it rubbed Homelander the wrong way.

“You know, Hughie,” he said. “I’m surprised.”

“Huh? Uh, by what?”

Homelander shook his head, “It’s just… When we met as kids you were so… So confident. So ready to take charge and lead the way. Like you weren’t afraid of anything. You know I can hear your heartbeat right? It’s rather high.” At Hughie’s confused and slightly alarmed look he continued hastily, “Ah, it’s just… I guess I’m surprised that you seem so nervous and unconfident in yourself- No offense.”

“It’s alright…” Hughie tilted his head as if trying to find an answer. “Well… My dad has been kinda overprotective since I was a kid. Actually, I think it may have been that night we last saw each other. Um. My parents found me near midnight passed out in the park and my dad freaked out. And then my mom died a year later which freaked his out. He’s been kind of a nervous wreck when it comes to me ever since.”

Homelander frowned, “Hughie. I’m- I’m so sorry.”

Hughie shook his head and laughed humorlessly, “It’s not like it’s your fault. Well, with my mom at least. Actually, do you remember what happened that night?”

“I-” Homelander opened his mouth to answer but didn’t get to finish his thought.

The two of them are interrupted by Ezikiel tapping a spoon against his glass as he began to announce the start of their ceremonies. The distraction was an annoyance but Homelander knew he’d never hear the end of it if he skipped out on this now. Ezikiel introduced him and Homelander waved politely at the clapping crowd. Then they are ushered into the next tent over for the baptisms.

As they walk over, Homelander placed a hand possessively on the small of Hughie’s back to lead him over. The smaller man glanced up at him questioningly but he just smiled and gestured forward. The possessive beast in his chest purred contentedly when Hughie didn’t protest the action.

They begin the ceremony and one by one people step into the pool and Homelander has to say a bunch of bullshit words and dip them into the water. But it’s mostly rout motions as he impatiently waited for Hughie’s turn. When it’s finally the man’s turn, Hughie stepped gingerly into the water and shot Homelander a small smile. It causes warmth to spread through his body.

“You okay, Hughie?” He asked as the man stepped up to him. “You’re blood pressure is 150 over 90.”

“Yeah sorry. I’m just… Afraid of water.” Hughie replied lamely.

Homelander wished that Ezikiel wasn’t standing right there. He wanted to tell Hughie more, reassure him that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. Just like he did that night all those years ago. He was the one who kept Hughie safe. And now that he’s found his childhood friend again, he would be the one to continue keeping Hughie safe.

“Don’t panic,” he told Hughie reassuringly. He gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “There’s nothing to be worried about. I’ve got you.”  _ I’ll always get you. _

He repeated his memorized script to Hughie, not really meaning any of the words, as he took each of Hughie’s pliant wrists and crossed them over his chest. He made his way to Hughie’s side and gripped the back of his neck. Hughie was warm here and so fragile beneath his fingers. A tiny squeeze could snap his neck, not that Homelander would ever let that happen. Hughie was his now.

“Do you accept the Lord and Father as your savior? And Jesus as his son?”

“Yes…” Hughie answered softly, eyes glancing over again at Homelander for reassurance.

Homelander smiled back and then quickly, but gently, lowered Hughie down into the water. He held him there for maybe two seconds, not more than three, and brought the man back up again. Hughie gasped as he resurfaced, coughing and sputtering. Homelander patted his back and leaned in close to his ear.

“Meet me after this,” he whispered.

Hughie glanced at him and hesitantly nodded and then the ceremony continued.

Afterward, as all the people were leaving the tent, Homelander pulled Ezikiel aside.

“You want me to what?” The man asked incredulously.

Homelander sighed, “Just pretend to accidentally spill some champagne over his clothes. Don’t ask me stupid question. Just listen to me.”

Later there were a smattering of gasps as Ezikiel clumsily knocked into Hughie, managing to spill a glass of red wine all over his dry set of clothes. Homelander watched from the side with satisfaction, only choosing to come out once Ezikiel was nearly finished profusely apologizing.

“What happened?” Homelander called out.

Hughie shook his head, clearly annoyed. “It’s- It’s nothing. It was just an accident.”

“I am so sorry, brother,” Ezikiel muttered.

“It’s fine,” Hughie reassured. “I’ll just… I’ll go buy a shirt or something later.” He sounded frustrated.

Perfect.

“Hughie,” Homelander said. A burst of excitement shot through him when Hughie once again turned those gorgeous blue eyes back onto him. “Why don’t I just fly you back to my place and you can get a change of clothes there? It’ll be quick, I promise.”

Hughie glanced around nervously, “N-now? Ah- No it’s fine. It isn’t that big of a deal.”

“I insist,” Homelander said, laying a hand over Hughie’s shoulder. “Trust me, it’s no problem at all. Anything for a friend. Plus, it’ll take us no more than, like, five minutes to get there.”

Hughie was shaking his head again, trying to protest, but Homelander was not about to take no as an answer. He gently led Hughie out of the tent, noting with some annoyance that the man kept glancing back at Ezikiel. Was Ezikiel the boyfriend-? No no. That’s a ridiculous line of thinking.

“Homel-”

“John,” he corrected.

“ _ John _ ,” Hughie repeated with some frustrated. “Look, I’m fine. Really. This is completely unnecessary. I’m sure you have more important places to be than bothering with someone like me-”

“Don’t say that,” Homelander suddenly snapped. He let out a sigh when Hughie looked at him with wide eyes. “Sorry. Look just- Don’t say that about yourself. You mean something to me. Look at our bracelet. I didn’t keep this thing all these years for shits and giggles, you know? I value our friendship. I’ve missed you, Hughie.”

Hughie’s mouth fell open and closed as if he could not find the words to reply to that. It made Homelander irrationally happy. For the first time,  _ he  _ was the one leaving Hughie speechless instead of the other way around. Hughie took care of him out of the goodness of his heart once upon a time. It was time to return the favor.

“Ok but- I’m sure you’re busy,” Hughie protested, weaker this time.

“And I can assure you that I’m not.” Homelander winked at him, shooting him his signature thousand watt smile. “Come on, Hughie. I promise that I wouldn’t offer if I really didn’t want to. Do you really want to purchase an overpriced religious T-shirt?”

Hughie grumbled under his breath, “I did just get baptized. By you specifically.” Homelander laughed.

“Ok, but seriously? Do you actually want to spend like 40 bucks on a “pray the gay away” T-shirt?”

Hughie let out a dramatic but resigned sigh. “Ok fine! You win. But you promise this will be fast? I have to get back here.”

“I promise. Scout’s honor.”

Hughie rolled his eyes but didn’t protest anymore, which Homelander thought was a win. So without warning, he swiftly leaned down and scooped Hughie up into his arms bridal-style. The man let out a rather embarrassing wail at the sudden action, unconsciously clutching at Homelander.

“J-jesus!”

“Language, Hughie,” Homelander playfully chastised. “We are still at a Christian convention.”

Hughie glared halfheartedly at him, “W-why did you pick me up!”

Homelander laughed, “How else are we supposed to fly, hm? Oh, and I think you should hold on tight.” And then he launched himself into the air. Hughie let out a scream and clung to him tighter, much to Homelander’s pleasure. The feeling of Hughie’s warmth and weight in his arms was almost more than he could take. He would have a problem down below if he didn’t hurry and get his boy over to his apartment at Vought tower. Wouldn’t want to scare his childhood friend away just yet.

For now though, he’d keep his promise and let Hughie get changed and bring him back safe. Just until he could figure out who the fuck this “boyfriend” was and deal with the fucker. Then he’d focus on wooing Hughie into his bed and back into his life. But after that?

There was no way he was ever letting Hughie out of his sights ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am... A SUCKER for the childhood friends to enemies trope. A must have for all villain/hero ships. This ship doesn't get much love because Hughie and Homelander really have no real connection in the show (my horny shipper heart ships away anyway, le siiiigh). So I decided, hey why not take their one intimate moment from the show and ramp it up a whole lot, and then this was born!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.


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